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Compliments of the 

PEABODY ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, 

„ Salem, Mass. 



r^ 






Ancient and Modern Methods 



OF 



ARROW-RELEASE 



BY 



Frojn 

Essex Institute Bulletin, 

Oct. -Dec, i88s 



EDWARD S. MORSE. 

Director Peabody Academy ef Science. 




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m 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



OF 



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ARROW-RELEASE. 



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J 




EDWARD Si^ MORSE. 

Director Peahody Academy of Science, 



[From the Bulletin of the Essex Institute, Vol. XVII. Oct-Dec. 1885.] 



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Gets/ A 'J • 



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ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



OF 



ARROW-RELEASE. 



BY EDWARD S. MORSE. 



When 1 began collecting data illustrating the various 
methods of releasing the arrow from the bow as prac- 
ticed by different races, I was animated only by the idlest 
curiosity. It soon became evident, however, that some 
importance might attach to preserving the methods of 
handling a weapon which is rapidly being displaced in 
all parts of the world by the musket and rifle. While 
tribes still survive who rely entirely on this most ancient 
of weapons, using, even to the present day, stone-tipped 
arrows, there are other tribes using the rifle where the 
bow still survives. There are, however, entire tribes and 
nations who have but recently, or within late historic 
times, abandoned the bow and arrow, its survival beino* 
seen only as a plaything for children. 

It was not till I had accumulated quite a collection of 
sketches and other memoranda ilkistrating the methods of 
arrow-release, not only of existing but of ancient races, 
as shown by frescos and rock sculpture, that I realized 
that even so trivial an art as that of releasing the arrow 

(3) 



\ 



4 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

might possibly lead to interesting results in tracing the 
alHnities of past races. 

I am led to publish the data thus far collected, incom- 
plete as they are, with the intention of using the paper 
in the form of a circular to send abroad, with the hope 
of securing further material for a more extended memoir 
on the subject. 

My interest in the matter was first aroused by having a 
Japanese friend shoot with me. Being familiar with the 
usual rules of shooting as practiced for centuries by the 
English archers, and not being aware of more than one way 
of properly handling so simple and primitive a weapon 
as the bow and arrow, it was somewhat surprising to 
find that the Japanese practice was in every respect to- 
tally unlike ours. To illustrate : in the English practice, 
the bow must be grasped with the firmness of a smith's 
vice ; in the Japanese practice, on the contrary, it is held 
as lightly as possible ; in both cases, hoAvever, it is held 
vertically, but in the English method the arrow rests on 
the left of the bow, while in the Japanese method it is 
placed on the right. In the English practice a guard ot 
leather must be worn on the inner and lower portion of the 
arm to receive the impact of the string; in the Japanese 
practice no arm-guard is required, as by a curious fling or 
twirl of the bow hand, coincident with the release of the 
arrow, the bow (which is nearly circular in section) re- 
volves in the hand, so that the string brings up on the 
outside of the arm where the impact is so light that no 
protection is needed. In the English method the bow is 
grasped in the middle, and consequently the arrow is dis- 
charged from a point equidistant from its two ends, 
while the Japanese archer grasps the bow near its lower 
third and discharges the arrow from this point. This al- 
together unique method, so far as I am aware, probably 
arose from the custom of the archers in feudal times 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 5 

shooting in a kneeling posture from behind thick wooden 
shields which rested on the ground. While all these feat- 
ures above mentioned are quite unlike in the two peo- 
ples, these dissimilarities extend to the method of drawing 
the arrow and releasing it. In the English method the 
string is drawn with the tips of the first three fingers, the 
arrow being lightly held between the first and second fin- 
gers, the release being effected by simply straightening 
the finofers and at the same time drawin^^ the hand back 
from the string ; in the Japanese method of release the 
string is drawn back by the bent thumb, the forefinger 
aiding in holding the thumb down on the string, the 
arrow being held in the crotch at the junction of the 
thumb and finger. 

These marked and important points of difference be- 
tween the two nations in the use of a weapon so simple 
and having the same parts, — namely, an elastic stick, a 
simple cord, a slender barbed shaft, — and used by the two 
hands, naturally led me to inquire further into the use of 
the bow in various parts of the world, and to my amize- 
ment I found not only a number of totally distinct meth- 
ods of arrow- release with modifications, or sub-varieties, 
but that all these methods had been in vogue from early 
historic times. Even the simple act of bracing or string- 
ing the bow varies quite as profoundly with different 
races. 

The simplest form of release is that which children the 
world over naturally adopt in first using the bow and 
arrow, and that is grasping the arrow between the end of 
the straightened thumb and the first and second joints of the 
bent forefinger. I say naturally, because I have noticed 
that American as well as Indian and Japanese children in- 
variably grasp the arrow in this way in the act of shooting. 
With a light or weak bow, such a release is the simplest 



6 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



and best ; and in this release it makes but little difference 
upon which side of the bow the arrow rests, provided the 
bow is held vertically. This release, however, prevents 
the drawing of a stifl" bow unless one possesses enormous 





Figs. 1 and 2. Primary release. 



strength in the fingers. Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate this re- 
lease. Arrows used in this release are usually knobbed 
at the nock, or proximal end of the arrow, for conven- 




Fig. 3. Knobbed arrow from Oregon. 

icncc of holding ; and an arrow of this form indicates a 
release of this or of a similar nature (Fig. 3). 

The Ainos of Yezo practice thi^ simple release. Their 
bow is short and highly strung when in use, and an arm- 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 7 

guard is not required, as the recoil of the string, from 
the high tension of the bow, is arrested before striking the 
arm. Some of the old English archers also avoided the 
use of the arm-guard by using highly strung bows. 

It is recorded that the Demerara Indians of South 
America practice this form of release ; and from a photo- 
graph of a Ute Indian in my possession I should infer 
that that tribe also practiced this release. Col. James 
Stevenson informs me that when the Navajos shoot at 
prairie dogs they use this release, so that the arrow will 
not penetrate the ground if it misses its mark ; and Mr. 
Daniel S. Hastings informs me that the Chippewa Indians 
sometimes practice this release. 

I am indebted to Dr. S. J. Mixter for a photograph 
which he made for me, of an old Micmac Indian in the act 
of releasing the arrow in the primary way. The man is 
one of the oldest Micmacs in the Cascapedia settlement on 
the north shore of the Bay of Chaleur and he informed Dr. 
Mixter that he often used the bow when a boy, and prac- 
ticed the release as represented. He also said that the 
other tribes in that part of Canada in the use of the bow 
drew the arrow in the same way. A member of the Pe- 
nobscot tribe at Moosehead Lake gave me the primary 
release as that practiced by the tribe, and seemed incred- 
ulous when I told him that there were other methods of 
drawing the arrow. 

This primitive method of releasing the arrow I shall 
designate as the Primary release. 

The next form of release to be considered is one which 
is a direct outgrowth from the primary release. This re- 
lease consists in grasping the arrow with the straightened 
thumb and bent forefinger, while the ends of the second 
and third fingers are brought to bear on the string to as- 



8 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



sist in driiwinsf. Y'ms. 4 and 5 illustriite the attitude of the 
hand in this release. Mr. Paul Mamegowena, an Ottawa 
Indian, informs me that his tribe practice this release, and 
he ilhistrated the method to me. Through the courtesy 
of Mr. Frank Hamilton Gushing I was enabled to make 
inquiries of a number of Zuiii chiefs in regard to their 




Figs. 4 and 5. Secondary release. 

method, and the release practiced by them differed in no 
respect from that of the Ottawas. 

Mr. Daniel S. Hastings, formerly civil engineer on the 
Northern Pacific Railroad writes to me as follows regarding 
the Chippewa Indians of northern Wisconsin: "I have 
watched the Indians so as to find out their manner of draw- 
ing back the bow-string and releasing the arrow, and I 
find they all agree in one respect : they all grasp the arrow 



OF ARROW-KELEASE. 9 

between the thumb and forefinger. Some of them use the 
thumb and forefinger alone, while others use the second, 
and still others add the second and third fingers to as- 
sist in pulling the string back, and let the string slip off 
the ends of the second and third fingers at the same instant 
the arrow is released from between the thumb and fore- 
finger." This release, though clearly distinct from the 
primary release, is an advance upon it in the added as- 
sistance of one or two fingers in pulling back the string ; 
and the description given by Mr. Hastings is confirmatory 
of the natural relations existing between the two releases. 
For this reason it will be designated as the Secondary re- 
lease, 

Mr. La Flesche, an intelligent Omaha, showed me a 
release practiced by his people which differs sufficiently 
from the secondary release to warrant its recognition as a 
separate form. In this release the forefinger, instead of 
being bent, is nearly straight with its tip, as well as the 
tips of the second and third fingers, pressing or pulling on 
the string, the thumb, as in the primary and secondary 
release, active in assisting in pinching the arrow and 
pulling it back. This release I shall call the Tertiary 
release. (See Figs. 6 and 7.) 

Lieut. A. W. Vogdes, U. S. A., has informed me that 
the Sioux, Arapahoes, and Cheyenne practice the tertiary 
release ; and Col. James Stephenson has noticed this re- 
lease practiced not only by the two latter tribes but 
by the Assiniboins, Comanches, Crows, Blackfeet, and 
Navajos. Mr. La Flesche and Lieut. Vogdes informed me 
that the tribes using this release held the bow nearly hori- 
zontally. 

In holding the bow horizontally the release-hand is held 
with the palm uppermost, the arrow, of course, resting 
on the bow. In the Zufii and Ottawa practice, the bow 

2 



10 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



])eing held vertically or nearly so, the arrow is placed at 
the left of the how. It is possihle that originally the how 
was held horizontally, but necessities arising, as in shoot- 
ing in a forest, or shooting side by side with others closely 
ai)presscd, the bow was required to be held vertically. 
In thus turning the bow-hand in the only way it could bo 
turned conveniently, the arrow would be brought to the 
left of the bow vertical. 

As will be shown further on, the position of the arrow 




ri}?3. <; and 7. Tertiary relcaso. 

either to the right or to the left of the bow vertical is de- 
termined in most cases by the method of release. 

In the primary and secondary releases, however, it 
makes but little dillerence on which side the arrow is 
l)laccd ; and some tribes, using the bow vertical, place the 
arrow to the right, and this is probably a quicker way of 
adjusting the arrow when shooting rapidly. Col. James 
Stevenson informs me that Navajo Indians practice three 
methods of release, namely, the primary release already 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 11 

alluded to, the tertiary release, and a variety of the Med- 
iteraneaii release, which will be described further on. 

During the recent visit of the Siamese embassy to this 
country, I obtained from its members through the cour- 
tesy of Mr. Wilberforce Wyke, interpreter, some inter- 
esting: facts concerninfi: the use of the bow in Siam. It 

O CD 

was curious to find that the Siamese practiced the tertiary 
release ; with this difference, however, that one finger only 
is used on the strinsr instead of two. Mr. Nai Tuan illus- 
tiated the method to me, and exphiined that little use was 
made of the bow and arrow, its practice being confined to 
the shootins: of small birds and fishes. 

Major Snayh of the embassy told me that poisoned ar- 
rows were also used, in which case the bow was held hori- 
zontally, and the bow-hand grasped not only the bow, but 
a ori-ooved board in which the arrow rested. In the last 
century, it was customary for the Turkish archer to use 
a grooved piece of horn which was held in the bow-hand 
directed towards the string. In this grooved piece the 
arrow ran, and by this contrivance the bow could be drawn 
much further back, even to the extent of bringing the 
head of the arrow four or five inches within the bow. Ac- 
cording to Wilkinson, the ancient Egyptians were familiar 
with this curious adjunct to the bow. 

E. H. Man, Esq., in his work on the Andaman Island- 
ers,^ p. 141, says that the inhabitants of Great Andaman 
" place the arrow in position between the thumb and top 
joint of the forefinger, and draw the string to the mouth 
with the middle and third finger." As Mr. Man in this 
description does not speak of the forefinger as bent and 



1 On the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Ishinds. By Edward Horace 
Man. Reprinted from the Journal of the Anlhi-opological Institute of GreaC 
Britain and Ireland. 



12 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

pressed against the arrow, the release practiced by these 
pe()[)le must be the tertiary release. 

We have thus far considered three methods of release, 
of which the thumb and bent fore linger appressed forms 
the simplest and probably one of the earliest forms; and 
this we have called the primary release. The secondary 
release dilleis only in the application of the tips of the 
second finger, or second and third fingers, to the string, 
and must be regarded as a development of the primary 
release, though formini^f a distinct method. The third re- 
lease diflers in the position of the forefinger, which, instead 
of being bent and pressed against the arrow, is nearly 
straight, its tip, as well as the tips of the second and some- 
times that of the third finger, engaging the string. This 
constitutes the tertiary release. 

We come now to consider a release which by document- 
ary evidence has been in vogue among the northern Med- 
iterranean nations for centuries, and among the southern 
Mediterranean nations for tens of centuries. It is the 
oldest release of which we have any knowledge. It is 
practiced to-day by all modern English, French, and 
American archers, and is the release practiced by Euro- 
pean archers of the Middle Ages. This release consists in 
drawing the string back with the tips of the first, second, 
and third lingers, the balls of the fingers clinging to the 
string, with the terminal joints of the fingers slightly flexed. 
The arrow is lightly held between the first and second 
lingers, the thumb straight and inactive. 

Since this release has been practiced by the Mediterra- 
nean nations from early historic times, it may with pro- 
priety be called the Mediterranean release. The following 
figures (Figs. 8 and 9) illustrate this form of release. 

In the practice of this release, the attrition of the string 
on the lingers is so severe that a leather glove or leather 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 



13 



finger-tips are worn, though some archers arc enabled by 
lono- service to shoot with their fingers unprotected. 
Koger Ascham, in his " Toxophilus," written in 1544, 
says : " A shootinge glove is chieflye for to save a man's 
fingers from hurtinge, that he may be able to beare the 
sharpe stringe to the uttermoste of his strengthe. And 
when a man shooteth, the might of his shoote lyeth on 
the foremost finger, and on the ringman ; for the middle 




Figs. 8 and 9. Mediterranean release. 

finger which is longest, like a lubber, starteth back, and 
beareth no weii^ht of the strins^e in a manner at all ; 
therefore the two fingers must have thicker leather, and that 
must have thickest of all whereon a man lovvseth most, 
and for sure lowsinge the foremost finger is most apt, 
because it holdeth best, and for that purpose nature hath, 
as a man would say, yocked it with the thoumbe." 

Hansard, in his " Book of Archery," states that the Flem- 
ings use the first and second fingers only, a method adopted 
by some English bowmen. This Fleming variety of the 



14 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

Mediterranean release, as we shall soon see, was probably 
the usual Ibrui in the Middle Ages. Among the many 
curious matters of interest concerning archery, which may 
be found in Hansard's book, is the description of a quaint 
black-letter volume which the author dug out in the Royal 
Library of Paris. This volume was written at the close 
of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century. 
It is entitled " The Book of King Modus," and is a treatise 
on the use of the bow in hunting. Among other matters 
is a chapter of " Instructions in the Art of Archery ;" and 
in regard to the release, it says that "you draw the arrow 
with three fingers, holding the nock between the forefinger 
and the next thereto." 

Associated with this release is the necessity of placing 
the arrow on the left of the bow held vertically. This 
position is necessitated by the fact, that as the string is 
pulled back the friction of the fingers which clutch the 
arrow tends to swing the arrow to the right ; at the same 
time the friction of the fingers on the string causes the 
strinir to rotate somewhat to the risfht, and this tends to 
displace the arrow. 

In a release of this nature, the arrow must be to the left 
of the bow vertical ; and carved figures, manuscript draw- 
ings, and sculpture, in which the arrow is represented 
otherwise in connection with the Mediterranean release, 
must be incorrect. This release is unquestionably an 
advance on the others thus far described, as it enables 
the drawing of a stifFer bow, and is exceedingly delicate 
and smooth at the instant of loosing the arrow. 

Mr. John Murdock, who accompanied the United 
States Signal Survey Expedition to the northwest coast 
of Alaska, has kindly furnished me the information that 
the Eskimo of Point Barrow practice the jNIediterranean 
release, using, however, only the first and second fingers 
in drawing the string. I am also inde1)tcd to Mr. Mur- 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 



15 



dock for calling my attention to two other references 
concerning the practice of archery among these Arctic 
people. 

Mr. Ludwig Kumlien, naturalist of the Howgate Polar 
Expedition, says of the Cumberland Sound Eskimo, "In 
shooting this weapon the string is placed on the first joint 
of the first and middle finsfers of the ri^ht hand." ^ 

The Krause brothers state that the natives of East 
Cape, Siberia, do not hold the arrow between the thumb 
and first finger, but between the first and middle fingers.^ 

Neither of these descriptions is complete, and yet 
both indicate unmistakably the Mediterranean release. 
It was somewhat surprising to find this release among the 
tribes of Eskimo, for I had supposed that the arrow-re- 
lease of this people would be either in the form of the 
primary or secondary release. As a confirmation of this 
unlooked-for method of shooting among the west-coast 




Fig. 10. Point Barrow Eskimo arrow, half size, a, end view. 

Eskimo at least, Mr. Murdock called my attention to 
the shape of the nock end of their arrow, which was 
greatly flattened at right angles to the nock, so that it 
ofiered greater convenience for grasping between the fin- 
gers. It is possible also that this peculiar flattening may 
have something to do with the flight of the arrow. This 
flattening of the arrow I have never observed before ; and 
an arrow of this shape must indicate unmistakably the 
method of release employed, for in no other form of 
release with which I am familiar could the arrow be dis- 
charged. Fig. 10 gives the appearance of this arrow. 



1 Bulletin of the U. S. National Museum, No. 15, p. 37. 
^ Deutsche geographische Bliittei-, Vol. i, p. 33. 



16 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



If Mr. Man's information be correct, then the tribes 
inhabiting the Little Andaman practice the Mediterranean 
release. In his work on the Andaman Islanders before 
alluded to, the author says (p. 141) that the Jiir'awa, or 
the tribes which inhabit the Little Andaman and southern 
portions of the Great Andaman, "adopt the plan usual 
amon^: ourselves of hold! no: the nock of the arrow inside 
the string by means of the middle joints of the fore and 




Figs. 11 and 12. Mongolian release. 

middle fingers, and drawing the string with the same joints." 
While the four releases thus far described may be con- 
sidered successive moditications of each other, though I 
do not mean to imply that they are so necessarily, the 
release which we are about to examine is an entirely in- 
dependent form, having no relation to the others. In this 
release the string is drawn by the flexed thumb bent over 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 



17 



the strinir, the end of the forefinfi^er assistino^ in holdin2: 
the thumb in this position. Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate this 
relefise. The arrow is held at the junction of the thumb 
and forefinger, the base of the finger pressing the arrow 
against the bow. For this reason the arrow is always 
placed to the right of the bow vertical. 

This release is characteristic of the Asiatic races, such as 
the Mauchu, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Turk, and doubt- 
less other cognate peoples. The Persians also practice 
this release, which they probably acquired from their prox- 
imity to, and association (friendly and otherwise) with, 
Asiatic people of past times. 

As this release is practiced almost exclusively by Mon- 
golian nations, it may be called the Mongolian release. 

In this release the thumb is protected 
by a guard of some kind. With the 
Manchu, Chinese, and Turk, as well as 
with the Persian, this guard consists of 
a thick ring, which is worn near the base 
of the thumb. The thick edsre of the 
ring is brought to bear upon the string 
as it is drawn back, and at the same time the string is 

quickly released by straightening the 
thumb. The ring may be made of 
any hard material, such as horn, bone, 
ivory', quartz, agate, or jade. These 
rings are often very expensive. I was 
shown one in Canton that was valued 
p.^ ^^ at three hundred dollars. Fig. 13 

Chinese tinimb ring of jade, illustrates au ordinary hom ring such 

in section. ia r^ ^ 

as the Cantonese use. 

Fig. 14 shows a Chinese thumb-ring in section, made 

of jade. This ring, being used with bows having thicker 

strings, is correspondingly larger. The Korean thumb-ring 

is quite unlike that used by the Chinese, as will be seen 

3 




Fig. 13. 
Chinese thumb-ring. 





18 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



by Fig. 15. The ring is thin, and from its shape is evi- 
dently used to protect the ball of the thumb. The string 
is not engaged ])y the edge of the ring, as in the Chinese 




Fiff. 15. Korean thumb-ring. 



method, but rests upon the side of the ring.^ The eJapanese 
archer, instead of using a thumb-ring, is provided with a 




Fig. IC. Japanese aralier'a glove (portion only shown). 

<dove consisting: of thumb and two lingers. The wrist of 
the <dove is firmly bound to the wrist by a long band, 

G •^ 

1 1 was toM by a Korean ambassador in Toldo, that in archery the Koreans are 
taught to draw the arrow with either hand, but considered the left hand most effi- 
cient. In illustrating the method of release he drew the arrow witli his left hand. 
The bow is fu inly grasped, uud an arm-guard is worn. 



OF ARROAV-RELEASE. 



19 



which is fostened to one flap, passes through a hole in the 
opposite flap, thus enabling it to be pulled up like a noose, 
and then is wound tightly about the wrist several times. 
The thumb of the glove is much thickened, and is very 
hard and stifi* (Fig. 16) . Its operation is like that of the 
Korean thumb-ring. 

In the Korean and Japanese practice the first and second 
fingers assist in holding the thumb bent on the string, 
while in the Manchu release only the first finger is so 




Fig. 17. Manchu. 

used, the other three fingers being inactive and closed. 
There are doubtless other modifications of this release ; the 
essential features however remain the same. 

A young Japanese from the north of Japan, in illustrating 
to me his method of release, drew the string back with the 
thumb and interlocked forefinger as already described, and 
assisted the drawing back of the string with the tips of the 
second and third fingers, as shown in the secondary release. 

The accompanying figure illustrates the attitude of the 
shaft hand of a Manchu as seen from above, which I 
sketched from a Manchu soldier at Canton. (Fig. 17.) The 



20 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

Persians and Turks use the thumb-ring in the same way. 
Fig. 18, representing the Persian thumb-ring, is copied from 
a drawing given in Meyrick's " Ancient Armour." Han- 
sard, referring to another author, says that "one of the early 
Turkish Sultans occupied his leisure in manufacturing 
these rings," distributing them as presents among his favor- 
ite pashas ; and adds also that the carnelian thumb-rings 
may be easily procured in the Bazaars of Constantinople. 
Some notes in regard to Persian archery may be found 
in " Hansard's Book of Archery," p. 136. 

The " Archers' Register " published a number of notes 
from a manuscript copy of " Anecdotes of Turkish Archery 
procured from Constantinople by Sir Robert Ainslie, and 
translated by his interpreter, at the request of Sir Joseph 
Banks, Baronet, 1797," from which we quote : — 

" The bow, instead of being drawn with 
three lingers on the string, according to 
our mode, was drawn by the right thumb, 
with the arrow placed on the string im- 
mediately above it. A thumb-piece, or 
guard of bone, answering the purpose of 
our Hips,' was worn. It covered the ball 
of the thumb, one end being made as a 
Fig^ ring and passed over the joint. A pro- 

persian thumb-ring, j^^jj^ij^g touguc iu the iuside prevented 

the string slipping off the guard into the angle of the 
thumb formed by the bent joint. The inside of the guard 
was lined with leather. A curious contrivance, consist- 
in": of a horn-«:roove several inches in len<ith, fixed on 
a foundation of w^ood attached to a leather strap and 
buckle, was fastened on the bow-hand. The groove pro- 
jected inwards. The arrow was laid in this groove, which 
rested on the thumb, and was rather iiigher on the outside, 
as the arrow was shot on the ri<2:ht side of the bow, on 
the contrary side to what it is in England." 




OF ARROW-RELEASE. 



21 



There are doubtless other forms of release, but those 
already given probably comprise the principal and most 
efficient ones. 

At Singapore I was enabled to secure, through the kind- 
ness of D. F. A. Hervey, Esq., of Malacca, a Malay release 
of the Temiang tribe, originally from Sumatra. The bow 
was held hi an horizontal position (a hole being made in 
the centre of the bow through which the arrow passed), 
the three fingers bent over the string, and the arrow held 
between the first and second fingers, the thumb straight- 




Fig. 19. Temiang release. 



ened, and the little finger partially straightened and bear- 
ing against the string as in the figure (Fig. 19). This was 
a weak release, and was used only in the shooting of small 
game and fish. An entirely difierent form of release is 
used by this people in shooting fire at the spirit of sick- 
ness. The bow is perforated as in the bow above men- 
tioned ; the arrow has a shoulder near the distal end which 
prevents it passing through the hole, and the nock is fas- 
tened to the string. A ball of inflammable material is 
loosely placed on the end of the arrow, and when the arrow 
is released it is suddenly checked by its shoulder striking 



22 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



the bow and the fire-ball is projected into the air by its 
nionientum. The release in this act is shown in Fig. 20. 

The first finger passes above the string and under the ar- 
row, the thumb being straightened and the arrow grasped 
between the thumb and finger. This is a most awkward and 
inefficient release ; and as the descriptions of this and the 
previous Malay release were given nie by an old man, 
who was at the time being questioned by Mr. llervey in 
the interest of philology, it is possible that the releases may 
have been incorrectly described. 

The releases thus far given comprise those forms which 
have been studied from life. 

It now remains for us to examine the releases of ancient 




Fig. 20. Temiang release when shooting at spirit of sickness. 

peoples which are made known to us through illuminated 
manuscripts, frescos, rock sculpture, and other graphic 
methods. From the conventional way in which many of 
these are depicted, great difficulty is encountered in prop- 
erly interpreting the exact method of release intended. 
In many cases, especially in certain forms of the ancient 
Egyptian, as shown in the frescos, and early Grecian, as 
represented on their decorative vases, it is well nigh im- 
possible to recognize any mode in which the arrow could 
be drawn. In some cases the release micfht be intended 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 23 

to represent either of two or three kinds. That many re- 
leases are represented incorrectly there can be no doubt. 
In figures of Egyptian archers, the hand is depicted as 
daintily pulling the arrow in a way that could not possibly 
accomplish the drawing of a stiff bow ; and that the 
Egyptian archer used a stiff bow is seen in the vigorous 
manner in which he is represented as bracing it with knee 
pressed against its middle, while tying the cord above. 

It will be best, however, to give a description of those 
releases that can be clearly interpreted, beginning with the 
Assyrian. I had a brief opportunity of studying the won- 
derful collection of Assyrian slabs at the British Museum, 
and also the Assyrian collections at the Louvre. In the 
various scenes of war and hunting so graphically depicted, 
the most perfect representations of archers in the act of 
drawing the bow are given. 

At the outset I met with a very curious and unaccount- 
able discrepancy in the form of release employed, and that 
was when the archer was represented with his right side, 
or shaft hand, toward the observer, the hand was with few 
exceptions in the attitude of the primary or secondary 
release ; whereas if the archer was represented with his 
left side, or bow hand, toward the observer, the release 
with few exceptions represented the Mediterranean re- 
lease. Or, in other words, as one faces the sculptured 
slab the archers, who are represented as bhooting towards 
the right, show with few exceptions either the primary 
or secondary release, while those shooting towards the 
left are with few exceptions practicing the Mediterranean 
release ! 

If in every case the Assyrians were represented on the 
left, as one faces the tablet, fighting the enemy on the 
right, then one might assume that the enemy was prac- 
ticing a different release. In an Egyptian fresco, for ex- 



24 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

ample, where Rameses II. is depicted in his chariot fighting 
the Arabs, the enemy is represented as practicing a differ- 
ent release. While in many cases the Assyrians are on 
the left of the picture, in other cases they are on the 
right, and shooting towards the left. It is therefore diffi- 
cult to decide which release was practiced by them ; and 
all the more so, since, with very few exceptions, the re- 
leases are perfect representations of forms practiced to- 
day, which have already been described. I have suspected 
that in one or two cases the Monirolian release miorht have 
been intended, though in no case is the thumb-ring repre- 
sented, though other details of arm-guards, bracelets, etc., 
are shown with great minuteness. 

Taking the releases as they are represented in the sculpt- 




Fig. 21. AssjTian. 

ures without regard to the discrepancies above noted, it 
is an extremely interesting fact that all the earlier Assy- 
rian archers, that is, of the time of Assurnazirpal, or 884 
B. C, the release represented is the primary one, as shown 
in Fig. 21 ; while in the archers of the reign of Assurbar- 
nipal, or 650 B. C, the secondary release is shown, or a 
variety of it, in which the tips of all three fingers are on 
the string, as shown in Fig. 22. Between these two epochs 
the sculptures ranging from 745-705 B. C, notably a 
slab representing the campaign of Sennacherib showing 
assault on the Kouyunjik Palace, both the primary and 
secondary releases are represented. If any reliance can 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 



25 



be placed on the accuracy of these figures, an interesting 
rehition is shown in the development of the secondary 
from the primary release, as urged in the first part of this 
paper. Possibly a proof that the primary release is in- 




Fig. 22. Assyrian. 

tended is shown in the fact that the arrows are represent- 
ed with the nock end bulbous. 

On tablets in the British Museum of this intermediate 
age, or during the reign of Tiglath Pileser, is the first rep- 
resentation of an archer with the ris^ht side towards the 




Fig. 23. Assyrian. 

observer practicing the Mediterranean release : and on 
slabs of the date of 650 B. C, one showing Assurbarni- 
pal's second war against Elam, and another one represent- 
ing the siege of the city of Al-ammu, a number of archers 
with their right towards the observer are practicing the 
Mediterranean release (Fig. 23). In the Mediterranean 
release, which, as I have before remarked, is represented, 



26 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



with few exceptions, by all the archers having the bow- 
hand towards the observer, there are two varieties shown ; 
one in which three fingers are on the string, and another 




Fig. 24. Assyrian. 

with only two fingers drawing the bow, as shown in the 
accompanying figures (Figs. 24, 25). The Mediterra- 
nean release occurs in Assyrian sculpture as early as 884 




Fig. 25. Assyrian. 

B. C, as shown on a marble slab in the British INIuseum 
representing the siege of a city by Assurnazirpal (Fig. 
26). A curious form is shown in Fig. 27, showing Assur- 




W 



Fig. 26. Assyrian. 

barnipal in a chariot, shooting lions. The string below 
is concealed by the archer's arm. The secondary release 
is probably intended. 



OF ARROW-RKLEASE. 



27 



In regard to the bow-hand, the thumb is sometimes rep- 
resented as straight and guiding the arrow, and in other 
cases as braced inside of the bow. In this connection it 
may be interesting to note that in the earliest Assyrian 
bows the ends pf the bows are straight and blunt, the 
nocks being a simple groove and the string being tied 




Fig. 27. Assyrian. 

whenever the bow is braced, as in certain modern Indian 
and Aino practice. Other bows are shown at this period 
with a nock somewhat oblique, and it is possible that the 
string might have been looped and slipped into the notch, 
as in the modern English bo^. 

In the later slabs, that is 650 B.C., the ends of the bow 
are shown abruptly bent, the bent portion in some cases 




Fig. 29. Fig. 30. 

being carved to represent a bird's head. In the bracing 
of this bow the string has a permanent loop, and the assist- 
ance of a second person is required to slip this loop over 
the point of the nock while the archer is employed in 
bending the bow, which is done by drawing the ends of 
the bow towards him, the knee at the same time beins: 
pressed in the middle of the bow. (Figs. 28, 29, 30.) In 



28 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

the earlier reign, the arrows are shown with larger nocks 
and the barbs, long and narrow, with their outer edges gen- 
erally parallel to the shaft. The nock end of the arrow 
is bulbous, as before remarked; and if this is correctly 
represented it would settle the question as to the primary 
release beinof the one intended. In the later slabs, the 
arrow has shorter barbs, with the feathers tapering forward 
towards the point, and the nock end of the arrow is not 
bulbous. 

A more careful study than I was able to give to these 
sculptures may probably modify the general statements 
here made concerning the variations in time of the bow 
and arrow. 

Concerning the practice of archery among the ancient 
Egyptians, Wilkinson in his classical work mentions only 
two forms of release. He says their mode of drawing the 
bow was either with the thumb and forefinger or with the 
first and second fingers.^ Rawlinson makes the same state- 
ment. ^ These two forms as detined by these authors 
would be the primary and Mediterranean releases. 

If the representations of the drawings and frescos in 
ancient Egyptian tombs, as given by Rosallini, Lepsius, 
and others, are to be relied on, then the ancient Egyptians 
practiced at least three, and possibly four, definite and 
distinct methods of release. 

That many of the releases depicted in these old sculpt- 
ures and frescos are conventional simply, there can be no 
doubt ; indeed, some of the releases are plainly impossible, 
notably that form which shows the archer daintily draw- 
ing back a stiff bow with the extreme tips of the first two 
fin<'-ersand thumb. Again, the figure of Rameses II. (see 



1 Manners find Customs of the Ancient p:gyptians, 2na series, Vol. I., p. 207. 
' llislory of .AucieuL Egypt, Vol. I., p. 474. 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 



29 



Wilkinson, Vol. I., p. 307), which shows the bow verticiil 
while the shaft-hand is inverted, that is, with palm upper- 
most, is an equally impossible attitude. Other releases 
identify themselves clearly with forms already described, 
and with slight latitude in the interpretation of the con- 
ventional forms we may identify these as belonging to 
known types. 

The earliest releases are those depicted on the tombs of 
Beni Hassan of the time of Usurtasen I., which according 




Fig. 31. Early Egyptian. ' 

to the conservatiA^e chronology of Professor Lepsius dates 
2380 B.C. Here the Mediterranean release is unmistak- 
ably shown. The following figure (Fig. 31) from these 
tombs, copied from Rosallini's great work, indicates this 
form of release in the clearest manner. In these fifjures 
it is interesting to observe that the arrow is drawn to the 
ear, and also that the archers are represented as shooting 
with the left as well as with the riijht hand. 

Making a stride of over a thousand years and coming down 
to the time of Seti I. (1259 B.C.), we have represented a 
release as well as a mode of drawin^: the arrow above and 



30 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



behind the ear, which recalls in the action of the arm cer- 
tain forms of the Mongolian release. (Fig. 32.) It is 
true the attitude of the hand might be interpreted as rep- 
resenting the thumb and bent forefinger as shown in the 




Fig. 32. Egyptian. Seti I. 

'primary release, but the free and vigorous drawing of the 
bow as shown in the figure could not possibly be accom- 
plished in the primary form with a bow of any strength. 
Furthermore, the attitude assumed by the Manchu and 




Fig. 33. Egypti.au. R<'imescs II. 



Japanese archer in the Mongolian release vividly recalls 
this picture of Seti. Egyptologists state that Seti I. was 
occupied early in his reign with wars in the east and in re- 
sisting the incursions of Asiatic tribes ; and we venture to 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 



31 



ofler the suggestion that during these wars he might have 
acquired the more vigorous release as practiced by the 
Asiatics.^ Whatever may be the method depicted in the 
drawing of Seti, it is quite unlike the releases of the time 
of Usurtasen, and equally unlike the figures of Rameses 
II., which are so often portrayed. 

In Figs. 33, 34, copied from Rosallini, the thumb and 
the forefinger partially bent may be intended to represent 
the primary release, as in no other way could be inter- 
preted the bent forefinger and straightened thumb holding 




Fig. 34. Egyptian. Rameses II. 

the tip of the arrow, with three other fingers free from the 
strinsr. 

In the British Museum are casts of a hunting scene, and 
also of battle scenes of the time of Rameses II., in which the 
shaft-hand of the archer is in an inverted position. This 
form of release associated with a vertical bow is an impos- 
sible one. Either the hand is wrongly drawn, or the atti- 
tude of the bow is incorrectly given. The only explanation 
of this discrepancy is the assumption that the bow was 



1 It would be extremely interesting to know whether any object answering the 
purpose of a thumb-ring has ever been found among the relics of ancient Egypt. 



32 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 




Fig. 35. Egyptian. 



really held in an horizontal position, and the release prac- 
ticed was the one I 
have designated as the 
tertiary release. The 
Eg3^ptian artist, igno- 
rant of perspective 
drawing and utterly 
unal)le to represent a 
bow foreshortened, has 
drawn the bow in a 
vertical position. As a 
farther proof of this, 
we find that the tribes 
of North American In- 
dians and the Siamese 
who practice the terti- 
ary release usually hold 
the bow in an horizontal 
position. An examina- 
tion of the accompany- 
ing figures will make 
this clear. Fig. 35 is 
copied from the cast re- 
ferred to in the British 
Museum ; Fig. 36, 
from Wilkinson, Vol. i., 
p. 307; Fig. 37, from 
Wilkinson, Vol. i., p. 
309. Reginald Stuart 
Poole, Esq., of the 
British Museum, has 

kindly sent me an out- 
Fig. 37. Egyptian. t ^ ^, , , ^ 

Jme of the nock end of 
the ancient Egyptian arrow which shows a straidit and 




Fig. 3G. Egyptian. 




OF ARROW-RELEASE. 



33 



cylindrical shaft. Figs. 38, 39, 40, and 41 are copied 
from Rosallini. Fig. 38 is probably intended for the pri- 
mary, Fig. 39 the tertiary probably, and Figs. 40 and 41 
the Mediterranean form. 

Tnrning now to the practice of archery among the an- 
cient Grecians, we should expect to find among these peo- 




Fig. 38. Egyptian. 

pie, at least, the most distinct and truthful delineations of 
the attitude of the hand in shooting. Hansard, in his "Book 
of Archery," p. 428, says of the ancient Greek archers, 
"Like the modernTui'ks, Persians, Tartars, and many other 
Orientals, they drew the bow-string with their thumb, the 
arrow being retained in place by the forefinger. Many 




Fig. 39. Egyptian. 

sculptures extant in public and private collections, es- 
pecially those splendid casts from the Island of Egina 
now in the British Philosophical and Literary Institution, 
represent several archers drawing the bow-string as I have 
described." 

A study of a number of ancient Grecian releases as 
shown in rock sculpture and on decorated vases reveals 
only one release that might possibly be intended to repre- 
sent the Mongolian method, and this is shown on a Greek 



34 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



vase (black fiiriu'es on red) figured in Auserlesene Vaser- 
hilder. With this exception the releases thus far examined 
are as various, and many of them quite as enigmatical, as 
those seen among the ancient Egyptians. I puzzled for 
a long time over these sculptures from the temple of 




Fig. 40. Egyptian. 

Athena to which Mr. Hansard refers, and was forced to 
come to the conclusion that, despite their acknowledged ac- 
curacy, the release was an impossible one. It was not till 
sometime after that I learned that the figures had been care- 
fully restored by Thovaldsen, and the restored parts com- 




Fig. 41. Egyptian. 

prised the hands and arms, as well as the extremities of 
most of the figures. With this information I had occasion 
to hunt up a history of these figures, and found the follow- 
ing in a work by Eugene Plon entitled "Thovaldsen his Life 
and Works," republished in this country by Roberts Broth- 
ers. The figures were restored by Thovaldsen in 1816. 
Among the restored parts were the hands of the archers. 
" Tlie statues were in Parian marble, and he used so much 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 35 

care in matching the tints of the new pieces as almost to 
deceive a practiced eye. He was frequently asked by vis- 
itors to the Atelier which were the restored parts. *I can^- 
not say,' he would reply laughing ; ^I neglected to mark 
them, and I no longer remember. Find them out for 
yourself if you can'" (p. 56). Of these restorations, 
however, it is possible that Mr. Hansard was not aware, 
though if he had ever attempted drawing a bow in the 
manner represented in these figures, he would have seen 
the absurdity as well as the impossibility of the attitude ; 
and, furthermore, had he been at all familiar with the 
Mongolian release he would have seen that there was 
really no approach to the form as employed by the Man- 
chu, Korean, Japanese, or Turk. The following figure 
(Fig. 42) is sketched from the set of casts in the Mu- 
seum of Fine Arts in Boston. An examination of these 




Fig. 42. Thovaldsen's restoration of band. 

figures will show that the angle made by the shaft-hand in 
relation to the bow-hand is also inaccurate. A release that 
might at first sight suggest the Mongolian form is shown in 
the accompanying figure (Fig. 43) representing an Amazon 
archer, which is painted on a Greek vase of the 4th cen- 
tury B.C. The forefinger seems to be holding the end of 
the thumb, but the thumb is not hooked over the string as 
it ought to be. If the hand be correctly drawn it repre- 
sents quite well the tertiary release ; and this supposition 
is borne out by two sculptures, one from the Temple of 
Apollo Epicurius at Phigalia (Fig. 44) , and another from 



36 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



Lycia, Asia Minor. (Fig. 45.) In these two examples 
the hand seems to be in the attitude of drawing the bow, 
with the lingers partially bent on the string, and the thumb 




Fig. 43. Amazon archer. 

assisting in holding the arrow ; and this is the form of 
the tertiary release. 

The earliest Greek release that I have seen is represented 




Fig. 44. Phigalia. 

on a block of stone sent to this country by the Assos Ex- 
hibition, and now the property of the Boston Museum of 
Fine Arts. It is supposed to date about 2200 B. C. 




Fig. 46. Lycia, Asia Minor. 



In this figure the hand is vigorously grasping the string, 
with the first and second fingers abruptly bent, the third 
and fourth fingers apparently having been broken away. 
(Fig. 4(3.) 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 37 

If this release really represent a permanent form of 
shooting, then this form should have been designated the 
primary release ; but, so far as 1 have learned, it seems to 
be a temporary mode resorted to only under special con- 
ditions. In testing the stiffness of a bow, for example, 
the string is grasped in this manner. An instance of this 
is seen on one of the Assyrian slabs, where the king is 
represented as trying a bow. I was informed by a Zuni 
chief that when shooting in a great hurry the string was 
vigorously clutched by three or four fingers, the arrow 
being held against the first finger by the thumb. 

The Ainos on the west coast of Yezo also informed me 




Fig. 46. Assos. 

that when shooting in great haste the string was clutched 
in precisely this manner. In the use of a bow of any 
strength, the attrition of the string on the fingers must be 
very severe ; and only a hand as tough, and as thoroughly 
calloused as the paw of an animal, could endure the fric- 
tion of the string in such a release. For convenience of 
reference this form may be referred to provisionally as the 
Archaic release. 

In abas-relief in marble representing Herakles drawiu"" 
a bow, a figure of which is given in Kaj^et's Monimients 
de VArt Antique^ it is rather curious that the hand is rep- 
resented as clutching the string in the vigorous manner 
just described. The date of this work is put down as the 
fourth or fifth century B. C. Doubts have been expressed 



38 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



as to the genuineness of this work. Dr. Alfred Emerson 
has expressed his belief in the "American Journal of 
Archieology," Vol. i., p. 153, that the work is a modern 
fraud. In the following number of the Journal Mr- 
Furtwaugler defends the work, but would place it not 
earlier than the first century B. C. He says it is not ar- 




Fig. 47. Grecian. 

chaic, but archaistic. Whether the work ,be genuine or 
spurious I am not competent to judge. I may venture to 
say, however, that the attitude of the shaft-hand is very 
inaccurate. However absurd the drawing of the hand 
often is in these early Greek releases, the artists have 
rarely failed to adjust the arrow correctly in relation to 




Fig. 48. Grecian. 

the bend of the bow and the angle made by the string in 
tension. In this bas-relief of Herakles, however, the at- 
titude of shooting is one of which no artist capable of mak- 
ing so robust and correct a body and pose would be guilty, 
and it certainly lends some weight to the supposition of 
Dr. Emerson as to the possible character of the work. 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 39 

The accompanying figures are interesting as showing the 
conventional and even grotesque ways in which the arrow 
release is often represented on early Grecian vases. Figs. 
47 and 48 are copied from Weiner Vorlage Blatter^ Series 
D, Taf. IX, XII. Fig. 47 shows the hand reversed, with 
the thumb below instead of above. It is possible to shoot 
an arrow in this way but hardly probable that so awkward 
and unnatural an attitude would be taken. This release 
is intended to represent the tertiary release. Fig. 48 as 
drawn is an impossible release, though this release also 
may be intended to represent the tertiary release, the 
thumb being straight, and the arrow being held between 




X 




Fig. 49. Grecian. Fig. 50. Grecian. 

the thumb and forefinger, while the second finger, and in 
Fig. 48 the second, third, and fourth fingers are on the 
string. 

In Monmnents Inedits., Vol. i., Plate li., is figured the 
famous Chalcidian or Achilles vase, supposed to have been 
made in the early part of the sixth century B. C. Here 
the archer is shown left-handed. Assuminoj the drawino^ 
to be correct, the release represents the archaic form 
(Fig. 49). 

Another release figured in the same volume, Plate xx., 
may be intended to represent the tertiary release (see 
Fig. 50). On Plate L., Vol. ii., of the same work is fig- 



40 



ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



uretl a Grecian vase of the fourth century B. C, on which 
are depicted two releases which are probably the tertiary 
form (Fig 51). On Plate xviii. of the same volume is 
li»uired an archaic Etruscan vase on which a curious de- 




|Fig. 51. Grecian. 

lineation of an archer is giveu. The how-hand is so well 
drawn that one is almost inclined to im:\giue that some 
mechanical device for releasing the arrow is intended by 
the curious representation of the shaft-hand (Fig. 52). 
Three other curious releases are shown in Figs. 53, 54 and 




Fig. 52. Etruscan. 



55, the latter copied from a Greek vase (black figures on 
red) supposed to be of the sixth century B. C. All these, 
though incorrectly represented, are probably intended for 
the tertiary release. Fig. 56 is copied from a figure given 
in Auserlesene Vaserbikler, representing a Greek vase of 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 



41 



the sixth century B. C. In this the archer's hand most 
certainly suggests the Mongolian release. It is true the 
thumb is not bent on the strin<r, but it is bent with the 
second and presumably the first finger pressing against it. 
Concerning ancient Persian releases, only two have fallen 





Fig. 53. Grecian. 



Fig 54. Grecian (bas-relief). 



under m}'' notice. One is preserved on a silver cup of the 
Sassanid Dynasty, fifth century B. C. This is figured in 
Monuments Inedits., Vol. iii., Plate 51. In this figure 
the bow is a typical Manchu. The release is unquestion- 
ably a variety of the Mongolian release, the second and 





Fig. 55. Grecian. 



Fig. 56. Grecian. 



third fingers aiding the thumb, while the index finger is 
straight and inactive. The hand has attached to it a 
curious gear of leather, apparently held by a band about 
the wi'ist. Whether this suggests a finger- and thumb- 
6 



42 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

guard similar to that used by the Japanese it is difficult 
to determine. (Fig. 57.) 

In the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 
Vol. VII., Part I., p. 258, 1883, is a communication from 
Major General A. Cunningham, entitled "Relics from 
Ancient Persia in Gold, Silver, and Copper." These ob- 
jects were found on the northern bank of the Oxus. Judg- 
ing from the coins, the author regards the deposit as having 
been made not later than 180 or 200 years B. C. Among 
the relics was a stone cylinder, upon which were represented 
two Persian soldiers capturing two Scythians. The rep- 
resentations of the hands are too imperfect for one to 
judge with any precision of the character of the release in- 




Fig. 57. Persian. 

tended. The attitude of the hand in every case, however, 
su£:«rests the Mono^olian release. The bow is short, and 
of a form similar to the Manchu bow of to-day. It is in- 
teresting to notice that the Scythians are represented as 
shooting left-handed, and in this connection to recall the 
advice which Plato gives in regard to archery, — that both 
hands should be taught to draw the bow, adding that the 
Scythians draw the bow with either hand. 

In regard to Chinese archery in ancient times, the clas- 
sics of China abound in allusions to archery, and there 
can be no doubt that the release as practiced to-day is 
identical with the release practiced three thousand years 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 43 

ago. The Analects of Confucius, the Doctrine of the 
Mean, and other ancient writings bear ample testimony to 
the high esteem in which this manly art was held. 

In the Shi King, or book of ancient Chinese poetry 
(translation of Legge) , the following allusions refer to the 
use of the thumb-ring, which was also called a thimble, 
and also Sipdn chi, or linger regulator. 

" With archer's thimble at his girdle hung." 

And again, — 

*' Each right thumb wore the metal guard." 

Concerning Japanese archery methods in past times, 




Fig. 58. Japanese. 

what little evidence we have on the subject points to a 
Mongolian form of release. The archers have always 
formed a favorite study for the Japanese artist, and many 
details of the bow and arrow and attitudes of the archer 
may be got from old paintings and drawings. The rep- 
resentations of the hand in shooting, though often drawn 
conventionally, are easily interpreted as releasing the ar- 
row after the Mongolian method. Fig. 58 is copied from 
a vigorous drawing, showing the attitude of the shaft- 
hand in the attitude of release. In the Shinto temple at 
Miyajima is a picture over two hundred years old, in 
which the archer's hand is shown in the attitude of the 



44 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

Mongolian release. A picture of Tanniu, painted one 
hundred and fifty years ago and supposed to be a copy 
of a Chinese subject six or seven hundred years old, shows 
plainly the Mongolian release. In a picture by Keion, 
seven hundred years old, the archer is represented in the 
act of wetting with his tongue the tips of the first two 
fingers of his hand ; and this certainly suggests the Japa- 
nese form of the Mongolian release. 

Among the Emperor's treasures at Nara is a silver ves- 
sel supposed to be of the time of Tempei Jingo (765 A. 
D.), upon which is depicted a hunting-scene. Here the 
release, if correctly depicted, suggests the Mediterranean 
form. The bow is Mongoloid. The vessel is probal)ly 
Persian : it is certainly not Japanese. The earliest allu- 
sions to Japanese archery are contained in "Kojiki, or 
Kecords of Ancient Matters," of which its translator, Mr. 
Basil Hall Chamberlain, says : " It is the earliest authentic 
literary product of that large division of the human race 
which has been variously denominated Turanian, Scythian, 
and Altaic, and even precedes by at least a century the 
most ancient extant literary compositions of non-Aryan 
India." These records take us back without question to 
the 7th century of our era. In this work allusion is made 
to the heavenly feathered arrow, to the vegetable wax-tree 
how and deer how, and also to the elhow pad. It is diffi- 
cult to understand the purpose of the elbow pad in arch- 
ery, assuming the same practice of the bow in ancient 
times as in present Japanese methods. It is difficult to 
believe that a pad on the elbow was needed to protect 
that part from the feeble impact of the string. If the 
pad was a sort of arm-guard surrounding the elbow, then 
one might surmise the use of a highly strung bow of Mon- 
golian form held firmly and not permitted to rotate as in 
the Jai)anese style. 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 45 

The peculiar twist given the bow by the Japanese 
archer is, so far as I know, unique in archery practice. 
In Siam, a bow of curious construction is used for throw- 
ing clay balls. The ball is held in a netting, the string 
of the bow is double, the bow-hand has the thumb braced 
vertically against the inside of the bow, so that it may 
not interfere with the flight of the ball. A peculiar twist 
is given the bow, so that the ball passes free from it. 

I know of no record to show that the Japanese ever 
used a bow of this nature ; in the Emperor's treasure- 
house at Nara, however, is preserved a curious bow nearly 
a thousand years old, and this is undoubtedly a bow used 
for throwing clay or stone balls. Instead of a netting to 
hold the ball there is a perforated leathern piece. This 
piece is adjusted to the cord a third way down the bow, 
at about the point from which the Japanese archer dis- 
charges the arrow. Whether the Japanese archer ac- 
quired this curious twirl of the bow to protect the feathers 
from rubbing against its side, or to escape the painful im- 
pact of the string, or, which is not improbable, acquired 
this novel twist from usino^ the ball- thro wino^ bow it is 

i 

difficult to determine. 

In regard to the release practiced by the various tribes 
in India, I have no information. 

Through the courtesy of the lamented James Fergus- 
son, I was permitted to examine his large collection of 
photographs of Indian Temples ; and in a brief examina- 
tion of these pictures I discovered a few releases in the 
sculptures. In the Peroor Temple near Coimbatore, an 
eight-armed God is represented as holding upright, be- 
tween the first and second fingers of the right hand, an 
arrow. It is impossible to conjecture the form of release 
in this attitude ; though, if the arrow were carried to the 
string in this position, the Mediterranean release would 
be suggested. 



4G ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

On the southwest face of the temple of Halabeed, My- 
sore, an archer is shown with the arrow already released ; 
the attitude of the hand, however, suggests the Mediter- 
ranean form. In the Valconda, a small, ruined temple 
near Calamapoor, archers are shown having the tips of all 
the fingers on the string, in the same position as shown in 
the later Assyrian release ; and this would indicate the 
secondary release. 

These data are alto<2:ether too few and vas^ue to deter- 
mine the form or forms of release of these people. 

Concerning ancient methods of archery in America, but 
little can be said. Probably the most reliable data are to 
be found in the few Mexican records w^hich survived the 
shocking desecration by the Catholic Church at the time 
of the Conquest.^ 

An examination of the plates of Kingsborough's" Mexi- 
can Antiquities" reveals a number of hunters and warriors 
armed with bows and arrows. The fisfures at best are 
somewhat rudely drawn ; those that are in action have the 
shaft-hand so poorly drawn that in most cases it is diffi- 
cult to ma||e out the release. In the few drawings in 
which the attitude of the shaft-hand is clearly shown, the 
tertiary release is probably indicated. 

To Mrs. Zelia Nuttall Pinart I am indebted for tracings 
of archers from the Atlas Duran, Plate i., and Mapjpe 
Quinatzin i, Plate iv. These, though quite as ambiguous 
as those to be found in Kingsborough's, can only be inter- 
preted as representing the tertiary release. In the latter 

1 The fiercely intolerant spirit of the representatives of the church is well il- 
lustrated by the language of a letter written by Zuniarraga, the chief inquisitor of 
Mexico, to the FranciHcan chapter at Tolosa, in January, 1531. The words are 
as follows : "Very reverend Father, be it knoAvn to you that we are very busy in the 
work of converting the heathen ; of whom, by the grace of God, upwards of one 
million have been baptized at the hands ot the brethren of the order of our Seraphic 
Father, Saint F'rancis; Ave hundred temples have been levelled to the ground, and 
more than twenty thousand lipurcs of the devils tlicy worshipped have been broken 
to picct'h and UwvnaX.''^— Examples of JconocUisvi by the CoiK/uerors of Mexico, by 
W. H. Holmes. 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 47 

work, Plates 90 and 93 of Vol. ii. show apparently a 
Mediterranean release ; and were there no other reasons 
for believing that these people practiced the tertiary re- 
lease, it might be assumed that the Mediterranean release 
was also practiced. The reasons are, first, that in every 
case the arrow is pulled to the breast or even lower ; 
and, second, and of more importance, in every instance 
when the archer is shown with the right hand toward the 
observer, the arrow is below the bow-hand, whereas in 
every case when the archer is shown with the left hand 
towards the observer, the arrow is above the bow-hand. 
The bow is represented vertically, as in all rude and early 
figures ; but the artist, not being able to represent the bow 
foreshortened and horizontal, has unconsciously indicated 
the attitude of the tertiary release by preserving the atti- 
tude of the bow in relation to the hand. 

We have seen that the Mediterranean release has two 
forms, in one of which three fingers are brouo^ht into 
action ; in the other only two fingers are so used. Eng- 
lish authorities say that if one can accustom himself to 
draw the bow with two fingers, a better release is the re- 
sult. While the difference between these two forms seems 
slight, as indeed it is, yet the practice to-day among Eu- 
ropean and American archers is to draw with three fin- 
gers. It was evidently not so universally the form in 
Europe a few centuries ago; for at this time, judging* 
from the few examples we have seen, the archers are al- 
most always depicted drawing with two fingers. It is 
true, the directions in the works of these early times as 
well as allusions to the subject state that three fino^ers on 
the string is the proper method of release. Yet the few 
sculptures, ivory carvings, etchings, manuscripts, draw- 
ings, etc., to which we have had access, almost invariably 
depict the two-fingered release. 

It would be interesting to know whether the bow has 



48 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

become stiffer in later years, requiring three fingers to bend 
it, or whether (as more probable) the fingers have become 
weaker, thus requiring more fingers to do the work. 

It is interesting to find in these early works a uni- 
formity in the method of release employed, and that the 
Saxon, Norman, Fleming, French, English, Scandinavian, 
and Italian practiced essentially the same release. 

Hansard says (see the "Book of Archery," p. 77), "All 
representations of archers which occur in illuminated 
manuscripts of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth 
centuries — and I have examined some scores of them — 
identify the ancient with the modern practice. The pen- 
and-ink drawings of John de Eous, a bowman as well as 
contemporary biographer of that Earl of Warwick who, 
during: the Wars of the Red and White Roses, was the 
setter up and destroyer of many kings, will furnish 
amusement and information to the curious. The neces- 
sary slight inclination of the head and neck — * this laying 
of the body in the bow,' the drawing with two and with 
three fingers — are there correctly delineated. They 
may be found among the manuscripts in the British 
Museum." 

According to Hansard, Ascham ordered the shooting- 
glove to be made with three fingers, "and when Henry 
the Fifth harangued his troops previous to the battle of 
Agincourt, he endeavoured to exasperate their minds by 
dwellinfi: on the cruelties in store for them. Addressino^ 
his archers, he said the French soldiers had sworn to am- 
putate their three first fingers, so that they should never 
more be able to slay man or horse. "^ 



» Meyrick, in his famous work on "Ancient Armour" (Vol. I., p. 9), in speakinc: of 
the origin of the bow in li^iighind, says: "The bow as a weapon of war was cer- 
tainly introduced by the Normans; tlie Saxons, like the Taheito at the present 
day, used it merely for killing birds. On this account, in the speech wliich Henry 
of fluntiugtun puts into the Conqueror's mouth before the buttle, he makes him 
Bligmatizc the Saxon as ' a nation not even having arrows.' " 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 49 

The earliest figure I have met with, ilhistrating archery 
in England, was copied from the Saxon manuscripts in 
the Cotton Library. These manuscripts are of the 
eighth century. If the wood-cut contained in Strutt's 
" Sports and Pastimes " is correct, then the attitude of the 
hands shows distinctly the three-fingered Mediterranean 
release. The bow is short and thick, and has a double 
curve, something like the Roman bow, from which indeed 
it might naturally have been derived.^ 

The following examples have come under my notice in 
a very hasty and imperfect survey of the field, principally 
derived from books, engravings, and ivory carvings, re- 
productions, etc., in museums. 

The celebrated Bayeux Tapestry, a copy of which 
maybe seen at the South Kensington Museum, represents 
the archers in the attitude of the two-fins^ered Mediterra- 
nean release, though a few are shown using three fingers. 
Also the following show the two-fingered form of the Med- 
iterranean release without exception : a fresco in Kumla 
Church, Vestmanland Co., Sweden, 1492; a sculptured 
figure in wood by Albrecht Diirer, figured in Som- 
merard's "Arts of the Middle Ages" (5th Series, Plate 
XXVII.), also in the same work (10th Series, Plate xxv.) ; 
a chess piece in ivory supposed to be of the tenth or 
eleventh century ; in Meyrick's "Ancient Armour" (Plate 
VIII., Vol. I.), a figure of a Norman of the eleventh cen- 
tury, on the doorway of the Cathedral of Amiens, a 
cast of which may be seen at the Trocedero Museum ; 
and, finally, in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts are a 
number of Florentine engravings of the early half of the 
fifteenth century, and these in every case represent in the 



1 It may be well to state here that opportunity has not permitted an examina- 
tion of sources for early Roman releases. On Trajan's column a few releases 
are shown, and these are of the Mediterranean form. 



50 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

clearest manner the two-fingered variety of the Mediter- 
ranean release. A curious form of the Mediterranean 
release is shown on the door of the Church of the Made- 
leine at VezeUiy, a cast of which is to be seen at Troce- 
dero Museum. In this release the archer has all four 
fin«-ers on the string, the arrow being held between the 
second and third fingers. I had supposed that this was a 
mistake of the artist, as indeed it may have been, but Col. 
James Stevenson, in describing to me the methods of re- 
lease among the Navajo Indians of North America, illus- 
trated a release identical with this four-fingered variety. 

In conclusion, it is interesting to observe that all the re- 
leases thus far described have been practiced from the 
earliest historic times. Each release with the exception 
of the primary release, which admits of no variation, has 
one or more varieties. The secondary release may have 
the second fins^er, or the second and third fingers on the 
strino". Some forms of this release in India and Assyria 
show all the fingers on the string ; it is hardly probable, 
however, that these are correctly represented. The terti- 
ary release may have the first and second, or the first, 
second, and third fingers on the string. The jVIediterranean 
release may be effected with two or three fingers, and in 
two instances all the fingers, on the string. The Mongolian 
release may have the assistance only of the first finger as in 
the Chinese and Manchu, or the first and second fingers as 
in the Korean and Japanese, — or, if rightly interpreted, 
the early Persian form, with the second and third only 
aiding the thumb ; and if the Mongolian release described 
on page 161 be an established form, then we have here a 
mixture of Mongolian and secondary. 

The persistence of a release in a people is well illustrated 
in the case of the Aino. For centuries the Ainos have 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 51 

battled with the Japanese, and must have been mindful of 
the superior archery of their enemies ; indeed on all hands, 
with the exception possibly of the Kamtschadals at the 
north, the Ainos have been surrounded by races practicing 
the Mongolian release, and yet have adhered to their 
primitive methods of shooting. 

The releases vary in their efficiency and strength. The 
two strongest and perhaps equally powerful releases are 
the Mediterranean and Mongolian ; and it is interesting to 
note the fact that the two great divisions of the human 
family who can claim a history, and who have been all 
dominant in the affairs of mankind, are the Mediterranean 
nations and the Mongolians. For three or four thousand 
years, at least, each stock has had its peculiar arrow-re- 
lease, and this has persisted through all the mutations of 
time to the present day. Language, manners, customs, 
religions have in the course of centuries widely separated 
these two great divisions into nations. Side by side they 
have lived ; devastating wars and wars of conquest have 
marked their contact ; and yet the apparently trivial and 
simple act of releasing the arrow from the bow has re- 
mained unchanged. At the present moment the European 
and Asiatic archer, shooting now only for sport, practice 
each the release which characterized their remote ancestors. 

Want of material will prevent more than a passing ref- 
erence to a peculiar practice of archery which Moseley 
alludes to as pedestrial archery. It is a matter of com- 
mon record that in widely separated parts of the world, as 
South America, China, and Africa, the archer uses his feet 
in drawing the bow. In an " Essay of Archery " by Walter 
Michael Moseley, 1792, the writer says : "It is recorded 
by ancient writers that the Ethiopians draw the bow with 
the feet ;" and again, Xenophon speaking of the Caducians 
says : " They had bows which were three cubits long, and 



52 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 

arrows two cubits. AVheii they made use of these weapons, . 
they placed their left foot on the bottom of the how, and 
by that method they drove their arrows with great vio- 
lence," etc. 

It is recorded of the Arabians that they used their bows 
in the manner above alUided to, by the help of the foot. 
The release in these cases must be of a most vigorous 
character ; and when in some accounts the archer is rep- 
resented as resting on his back, with both feet bracing 
against the bow, the string is probably clutched with both 
hands, after the manner I have provisionally called the 
archaic release. 

In the following classified list of releases and the peo- 
ple who practice them, it is shown in a general way that the 
primary, secondary, and tertiary releases are practiced by 
savage races to-day, as well as by certain civilized races of 
ancient times ; while the Mediterranean and Mongolian re- 
leases, though originating early in time, have always char- 
acterized the civilized and dominant races. The exceptions 
to this generalization are curious : the Little Andaman 
islanders practicing the Mediterranean release, and the 
inhabitants of the Great Andaman Island practicing the 
tertiary release, are an illustration. The fact that the vari- 
ous groups of Eskimo practicing the Mediterranean release, 
and so far as I knoAV being the only people who have de- 
sio-ned a distinct form of arrow for this method, is exceed- 
ingly curious. INIr. elohn Murdock, who is engaged in a 
careful study of the Eskimo, has expressed to me a sur- 
mise that certain arts of the Eskimo may have been derived 
from Greenland through Scandinavian colonists ; and this 
might explain the anomaly. 

It may be shown that in tribes in which the bow is but 
little used, and then only for small birds and game, the 
release is weak or irregular. The data, however, are alto- 
L^ethertoo few to establish any conclusions respecting this. 



OF AKROW-RELEASE. 



53 



CLASSIFIED LIST OF TRIBES AND NATIONS 
REFERRED TO IN THIS PAPER. 



RECENT. 



Pkeviary release. 



Savage. 



Ainos of Yezo. . 


observed 


Demeraia, S. A. . 


published 


Navajo, N. A. . 


reported 


Chippewa, N. A. . 


• 


Micmac, Canada. 


• 


Penobscot, N. A. . 


observed 


Ute, N. A. ? 


photograph 


Secondary release. 




Savage. 




Ottawa, N. A. 


observed 


Zuni, N. A. ... 


* 


Chippewa, N. A. . 


reported 


Tertiary release. 




Savage. 




Omaha, N. A. . 


observed 


Sioux, N. A. . 


reported 


Arapahoes, N. A. 


• 


Cheyennes, N. A. . 


• 


Assiniboins, N. A. 


• 


Comanches, N. A. . 


• 


Crows, N. A. . 


• 


Blackfeet. 


• 


Navajos, N. A. . 


• 


Great Andaman Islander 


published 


Civilized. 




Siamese. . . . , . 


observed 


Mediterranean release. 




Civilized. 




European Nations. J 


observed 


and published. 


Savage. 




Point Barrow Eskimo. 


reported 


Cumberland Sound Eskimo. 


published 


East Cape Siberia Eskimo. 


. 


Little Andaman Islander. 


• 



54 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 



Mongolian release. 



Civilized. 

Manchu soldier, China. . . observed. 

Cantouese, Chiua. . . " 

Korean '* 

Japanese. .... *' 

Turks. published. 

Persians. .... " 



Irregular release. 



Temiangs, Sumatra. , . observed. 

ANCIENT. 



Previary release. 

Civilized. 

Assyrian, early. 
Egyptian. 
Grecian ? 

Secondary release. 

Civilized. 

Assyrian, later. 
India? 

Tertiary release. 

Civilized. 

Egyptian. 
Grecian. 
Mexican ? 

Mediterranean release. 

Civilized. 

Assyrian, later. 

Egyptian, early. 

Arabian. 

Indian. 

Roman. 
Middle Ages. 

English. 

French. 

Norman. 

Fleming. 

Saxon. 

Swede. 

Florentine. 



<" 



OF ARROW-RELEASE. 55 

Mongolian release. 

Cimlized. 

Chinese. 
Scythian. 
Persian. 
Egyptian. ? 
Greek. ? 

Archaic release? 

Givilized. 

Ancient Greek. 

It is hardly necessary to call attention to the importance 
of a more systematic study of the methods of archery and 
paraphernalia of the archers than has yet been done. I 
would point out the necessity of observing greater care in 
copying drawings, rock-inscriptions, frescos, bas-reliefs, 
etc., also the minor details, — such as the position of 
the hand, the shape and character x)f the ends of the bow 
and arrow, and the shape of the feathers ; also the possi- 
bility and importance of identifying among ancient objects 
and drawings arm-guards, thumb-rings, arrow-rests, etc. 
Travellers and explorers ought also not only to observe 
the simple fact that such and such people use bows and 
arrows, but they should accurately record, (1) the atti- 
tude of the shaft hand; (2) whether the bow is held 
vertically or horizontally ; (3) whether the arrow is to 
the right or to the left of the bow vertical ; and (4), of 
which no comment has been made in this paper, whether 
extra arrows are held in the bow-hand or shaft-hand. The 
method of bracing the bow is of importance also. 

The remarkable persistence of certain forms of arrow- 
release among various nations leads me to believe, that, in 
identifying the affinities of past races, the method of using 
the bow may form another point in establishing or dis- 
proving relationships. By knowing with more certainty 
the character and limitation of the forms of arrow-release, 



'^ -'i I'JLS 



50 ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS OF ARROW-RELEASE. 

another clew may be got as to the date and nature of frag- 
ments of sculpture representing the hand. The peculiar 
attitude of the archer might lead to the interpretation of 
armless statues. 

The author would be very grateful for any information 
regarding the methods of arrow-release of tribes and peo- 
ples. Particularly would he desire the release as practiced 
by the Veddahs of Ceylon, the Hill tribes of India, the 
tribes of Africa, South America, and especially the Fue- 
gans. Indeed, any information regarding the methods 
of arrow-release in any part of the world would be accept- 
able. Such material in the shape of descriptions, photo- 
graphs, drawings, and if possible specimens of bows and 
arrows, may be sent to the author, Peabody Academy of 
Science, Salem, Mass., U.S.A., for which full credit will 
be given in a future pul)lication on this subject. 

In addition to those already mentioned in these pages 
to whom the author is under obligations, he would men- 
tion Gen. Charles A. Loring, Mr. Edward Robinson, Prof. 
Otis T. Mason, Rev. W. C. Winslow, Mr. T. F. Hunt, 
Dr. W. S. Bigelow, Prof. John Robinson, Mr. S. R. 
Koeller, and Prof. E. F. FenoUosa, who have in various 
ways rendered him kind assistance. 



.jf 



